POS / Kitchen Printers / Cabling

[Kevin Cella]

I am a friend of the family that owns a restaurant business. Recently one of the printers in the kitchen stopped working. It turned out to be a busted connector coming from the POS system to the printer device. Best I can tell, the line that goes to the main hub in the basement is a yellow crossover cable. The opposite end is hardwired to a self crimping style plug. The other end of the same connector appears to have a standard straight through cable port that then goes to the printer. There is one of these for each printer. The straight through port for one of these lines is what broke.

Thinking it is all the same, I figured if I followed the diagram on the connector, I could replace the connector that broke. So I would have to replace the hardwired crossover cable end using a standard crimp style connector. Then use an RJ45 coupler to connect the newly crimped end to the other straight through line going to the printer. After hours of trying different combinations of wiring and crimping, I still cannot get printer to work.

One odd thing I noticed is that if I take the wires from the good printer and switch them over to the bad printer, we get a light stating there is connectivity, but nothing prints. However, the test page prints, so we know the printer works and that the line works, just not when connected to the bad printer. Not sure if there is some software configuration in the POS (Point of Sale) system that handles the communication based on the printer's address.

Since it costs crazy money to have the POS company to fix the issue, my one last thought was to abandon the bad wire and use a switch. Take the good line coming from the basement (which i think is a crossover cable), then connect its other end using a straight through cable to a switch. Then use two more straight through cables from switch to each printer.

I tried the above using a spare router and we got the activity light on the printers, but they failed to print. I thought this might be because it was a router trying to create a new subnet not configured for the POS. Hence why I thought maybe a standard switch would be best.

Any thoughts or ideas? I am unfamiliar with the POS network and why there seems to be different wiring at certain points and crossover cables going into the master hub in the basement.

Thanks!

 

[mxnerd]

Post the printer brand, model & pictures of cable/connector, maybe someone can help.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Someone can help for sure. But pics, models, IP's (and static IP's specifically for printers) are definitely needed.

At this point in the game, crossover cables shouldn't be required except very rare support of older hardware.

if you know the printer works on another link, that that problem cable run is suspect.

And refrain from plugging another router into the network, as it most likely will start conflicting with the current setup.

 

[Kevin Cella]

 

[Kevin Cella]

I posted images of the printer and broken connector (on side being held). Since the original post, I think I gleaned some more information. The connector seems to be a common type used when installing a wall plate. Also, there is configuration in the software to assign an IP address to each printer. Therefore, if I use a switch to utilize the one working connector for both printers, then I need to determine its new IP address. This maybe what I need help with understanding.

 

[mxnerd]

pictures not viewable, you have to upload to image sharing sites.

 

[Kevin Cella]

Printer -- https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1KsNz3_qF7xRVMtaWFwX09YTWd0T01aZDZ0X2NyUE9rZ3hn/view?usp=sharing
Connector -- https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1KsNz3_qF7xcmxiY0xtLWlBWER6cGkwTm1zYXptclNqUzJV

 

[mxnerd]

That printer seems to be this Epson serial RS232 (DB25) printer.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16828103344

So is POS system a PC? Is the connector on PC side a DB9 or DB25?

And the RS232 serial cable is busted? How?

Then PC uses a ethernet cable connect to that self crimping style plug, and that cable goes to hub (or switch) in basement? But you said its connected to the printer. It's confusing. PC don't connect to another device with ethernet cable, unless it's a hub/switch/router.

Like what ch33zw1z said, most switches (no one use hub now) should be able to use straight or crossover cables now.

You better draw a simple picture depicting exactly how these devices and connector were connected.

 

[Kevin Cella]

There are PCs in the dining room and bar to take orders and the primary POS PC in the basement. Each device is connected to a switch in the basement. Each printer in the kitchen is on a separate line that ultimately goes downstairs to a wallplate and then from the wallplate to the switch. Since one of the printer lines broke at the connector seen in the picture, I am bypassing that by connecting the other printer line to another switch, then from switch out to the two printers. The other end still connects down into the basement. There may be other network devices, but i'm not all that familiar with how the POS company setup the LAN. I attached a picture to the best of my ability.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1KsNz3_qF7xcVNucTB4TkdBd00/view?usp=sharing

 

[ch33zw1z]

Your solution is fine, the switch is layer 2.

The run can be fixed using a self crimping keystone https://www.amazon.com/CAT5-RJ45-Keystone-Jack-Black/dp/B000BSN7RO

you need to match the pin out's on each side of the run

 

[mxnerd]

So it looks like all printers have ethernet port on them, each has its own IP. No serial cable needed. That's easier. As long as all printers and PCs connected to same switch or cascading switches, you are fine.

Also like what ch33 said, just fix the connector with toolless keystone.

Monoprice also carries them.

https://www.monoprice.com/search/index?keyword=toolless+RJ45+keystone

But it's better to plugin that the fixed keystone into a wallplate, instead have it dangling around.

https://www.monoprice.com/search/index/?category_1=Networking&keyword=wall plate

And you need this mounting bracket for the wall plate.

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=7013

 

[Kevin Cella]

How do I get the IP addresses of the two printers in the kitchen? Is there a free software utility that scans the network?

 

[mxnerd]

https://sourceforge.net/projects/ipscan/?source=typ_redirect

 

[Carson Dyle]

Doesn't seem likely that a network device would need a crossover cable to a hub/switch. It might just be what someone had on hand and may be the hub/switch is smart and swaps Rx and TX pairs, so it may make no difference.

What kind of cable is in place? Are each of the leads solid or stranded core? If stranded, you may be stuck with having to crimp on some kind of connector. But if they're solid you should punch them down into keystone jacks, which would then be mounted into either a surface mount box or a wall mount plate. Then you run a short patch cable from the jack to the device. This is generally the most desirable setup, as the stationary jack isn't likely to be damaged. If the connection goes bad, you just replace an inexpensive patch cable, with no crimping or other sketchy gyrations required. You can find jacks, surface mount boxes (or wall plates) and patch cables at Home Depot or Lowes.

 

[Kevin Cella]

The leads are solid. Part of the problem with using the keystone jack is logistics. There is little to no slack left and I already had to cut a couple inches off from several failed attempts. At this point unless the entire run from the kitchen to the basement is replaced, putting a connector on will be a challenge.

 

[Carson Dyle]

I take it then, the cable is run through the wall? Can you cut a new hole higher in the wall where you could mount a wall plate?

 

[Carson Dyle]

How close are you to the second printer that's still working? Another possibility, if that cable cannot be used, would be to put a small network switch on the good connection, then run patch cables to both printers. If that's logistically possible without running the patch cable where it's going to be in someone's way.

 

[Kevin Cella]

It is a long run through several walls, both concrete and wallboard. Hence why I am leaning toward a switch using the good connection. Thanks for all the help, I will let you know if it works out.